The Five Components of Brain Training

Like the rest of your body, your brain is sensitive to exercise. Brain stimulation is the secret to keeping your brain vital and supple.

Work Out to Oxygenate Your Brain

Obviously, to function at top level, your neurons require oxygen.The only way to provide optimal oxygenation is through pulse-raising physical activity.

The brain alone uses 25 percent of our blood flow to meet its oxygen, glucose and other nutritional needs, so cardiovascular or aerobic activity will keep its circulatory system in top condition while providing the neurons with a good supply of oxygen. We also recommend that you add muscle-building exercises to your aerobics.

It's been scientifically demonstrated that exercise increases cognitive and brain function, enhances learning, can boost memory, and wards off neurodegenerative diseases. It does this in part by stimulating production of a growth hormone that helps revitalize neurons.

You don't need to run a marathon every day to oxygenate your brain. Generally speaking, a physical training program for healthy adults should include :

• - 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise (you should be sweating but still be able to carry on a conversation), five days a week
• - alternatively, 20 minutes of intense aerobic exercise, three times a week
• - two weekly sessions involving 8 to 12 repetitions of 8 to 10 different muscle-building exercises

Even better, do your body and brain gym routines at the same time by doing the NeuroActive® brain training exercises while on a stationary bike!

Nutrition: Your Brain has Food Preferences

The food you eat fuels and provides the building blocks for all your body’s cells – your brain’s included.

A varied, balanced diet with controlled portion sizes is the key. Evidence-based data on brain nutrition even suggest that a restricted-calorie diet can increase your central nervous system’s life expectancy; researchers believe that restricting calorie intake triggers mechanisms that enable neurons to live longer, and more comprehensive studies on how calorie-restricted diets affect seniors’ brains are in the works. Meanwhile, remember that maintaining a healthy weight will also boost your gray matter.

What constitutes a healthy brain diet? Studies indicate that your brain adores the Mediterranean diet (lots of fruits, veggies, cereals, tubers, and olive oil, with low to moderate dairy, red meat, eggs, and wine), as well as antioxidant-rich foods like blueberries, raspberries, spinach and green cabbage.

Your brain also likes foods rich in selenium and folic acid such as liver, fruit, whole wheat bread and lima beans. Last but not least, nutrients such as vegetable juices, omega-3 fatty acids (found mostly in cold-water fish), flax and nuts are good for your brain.

Certain substances such as caffeine have been scientifically validated as “super-fuels” for the brain, giving a short-term boost to functions such as vigilance and memory. Some studies even suggest there may be positive long-term effects when these substances are consumed in moderation.

Certain products such as caffeine have been scientifically validated as “super-fuels” for the brain. When they act on the brain, certain functions such as vigilance and memory may show short-term improvement. Some studies even suggest there may be long-term effects, when these products are consumed in appropriate quantities over a longer period of time.